NEW YORK – A New York federal judge has ruled in favor of a group of terrorism victims represented by Sayles Werbner and firm co-founder Mark Werbner by denying a court motion filed on behalf of Arab Bank in the long-running lawsuit over cash payments made to the families of suicide bombers and other terrorists affiliated with the Palestinian group Hamas.

Sayles Werbner represents more than 50 U.S. families whose relatives have been injured or killed in terrorism bombings in Israel. The case has proceeded through the court system for nearly a decade after being filed under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act in 2004.

“Although it has been a long time coming, we’re very thankful that our clients are finally going to get their day in court,” says Werbner. “Terrorist acts have claimed scores of lives and injured countless innocent victims, but we’re now going to prove Arab Bank responsible for essentially establishing a system that provided great financial rewards to terrorists’ families when U.S. citizens were killed.”

The long delay between the filing date and the upcoming trial is largely the result of Arab Bank’s refusal to provide documents in discovery requests filed by Werbner and other attorneys representing the families of additional terrorism victims. Arab Bank was sanctioned for its conduct in 2010, and jurors in the upcoming trial will be allowed to infer that the bank knowingly provided financial services to designated terrorist organizations.

The latest ruling issued April 24, 2013, by Judge Nina Gershon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York clears the way for an jury trial that is expected to take place later this year in her Brooklyn courtroom. The trial, which is expected to last several months, will include testimony from victims’ loved ones and evidence showing how Arab Bank helped distribute millions of dollars to HAMAS, the families of suicide bombers and other terrorists.